


Believe In Me

by MsFaust



Series: Inky Tales [115]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Rebirth, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 22:18:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14294670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsFaust/pseuds/MsFaust
Summary: Alice Angel did not survive Henry's return to the studio, but she may get a second chance.





	Believe In Me

Looking out the window at the starry night sky, Allison couldn't help but feel forlorn. Henry had told her about everything that had happened at the studio, including what had become of Alice Angel, and she couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

Susie had been upset too--after all, she'd voiced the character first, and the two women had a massive fight after Joey's decision to make the switch. But the two women had long since made up, and Susie had gone on to voice Greta the Witch, who had proven far more popular.

And yet...the knowledge that unlike Bendy, Boris, Greta, and the Butcher Gang, Alice had eventually lost all stability and reverted to ink was heartbreaking to Allison. She'd become fond of Alice Angel, and despite all that the living version of Alice had done, there was a part of her that wished the angel could have lived too.

With a sigh, she climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over herself. As she fell asleep, a small orb of light flew in through the window. It floated over to her, hovered above her stomach for a brief moment, then vanished into her body.

(BATIM)

"P-pregnant?"

Allison nodded. "Just under six weeks. And before you ask, I have no idea who the father is. Matter of fact, I'm not sure how it's even possible--I don't recall sleeping with anyone--or being anywhere I could have gotten drugged--within the time it could have happened."

"So what, you're the next Virgin Mary?"

Wally shot Sammy a glare. "That's not funny, Lawrence. I don't know how it happened, but she ain't going through it alone."

Thomas nodded. "I'd do the same if it were Gina."

"And you'd do the same for Susie, wouldn't you?"

Sammy sighed. "You're right, Flynn. I would."

(BATIM)

Finally, it was over. After three to four long hours of labor, Allison's baby had finally been born.

"Well, congratulations, Miss Pendle, Mr. Franks." The doctor gave them a smile. "You have a healthy baby girl."

As she took the infant into her arms, Allison caught a glimpse of the baby's eyes. It was only for a moment, but she could see a familiar face smiling at her.

She knew, then and there, what had happened.

"Alice," she said. "That's the only name she needs."

Impossible as it seemed, the angel had indeed gotten a second chance.

"When you wish upon a star," she murmured. "Your dreams come true."

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on this theory I found:  
> \----------  
> Alice...is ink. Just ink. Originally a formless blob, then later reshaped into Alice, but still retaining parts of her original "program" -- whatever she was supposed to be when she was first "born". A palimpsest, with the scraped-away writing still casting shadows through the parchment.
> 
> The key is "belief". Look at the other "toons" we've seen:
> 
> Boris is a very simple character. Look at him in "Graveyard Picnic" -- he hardly reacts to anything. Keeping him this simple allows a lot of belief to be directed his way, which is why the machine keeps pumping him out over and over again.
> 
> Bendy is -- or was -- the flagship Sillyvision character. Like so many of the early toons, though, he's whatever the cartoonist needs. A prankster, an Everyman, a jerk, a sweetheart. Because of this, there's just one Bendy, but he's distorted, drawing from bits and pieces of what people believe he is.
> 
> The Butcher Gang are downright broken -- there's no sign they appeared in more than one cartoon, so their belief is fragmented, such that they barely resemble their original designs.
> 
> Sammy? He isn't the real Sammy, though he may believe he is. He's the audience's belief in the Music Director, as the Projectionist is the belief in the man who shows the film. No face, because nobody ever saw them on film. Just a vaguely humanoid ink shape, with only Sammy holding enough of an identity to speak.
> 
> And then there's Alice.
> 
> Alice, whatever she may have been when first created, needed belief -- popularity with the audience -- to retain her shape. She needs that power flowing through her, or she starts to melt away into ink.
> 
> And, well, she's not getting it. Alice Angel was the Scrappy Doo of the Sillyvision franchise: They couldn't give her anything without taking it from someone else in the cartoon, just as Scrappy wound up borrowing from Fred and Velma in order to give him some part to play, to let him fit into the series somehow. So Joey decided to reinvent Alice, recast her, redesign her.
> 
> It... didn't work out. With the redesign, the belief is now pulling what there is of "Alice" in two different directions, spreading her between Susie (original design) and Allison (second design). That lets whatever inhabited that ink first have enough power to override her.
> 
> "She made me do it."
> 
> And now? Now, "Alice", or whatever she was the first time she was spat out of the Ink Machine, is a parasite. She takes the hearts of other toons to siphon off the belief that keeps them going, using it to shore up her fragile, inky form, always terrified that, this time, it won't work.


End file.
